1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for aligning and regulating the supply of articles in a continuous manner, from at least one feed conveyor, where the articles are positioned in successive rows, to an evacuation conveyor. The axial velocity of the evacuation conveyor can be independently adjusted with respect to that of the feed conveyor.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
The transfer of articles from a first conveyor to a second conveyor, typically endless conveyors, in which the second conveyor is positioned transversely with respect to the first conveyor, poses a problem when the supply and evacuation of the articles are performed at high rates of speed. When, for example, a row of articles such as chocolate bars or similar products, which are relatively fragile and require careful handling, arrives at the end of a feed conveyor which is positioned, most often by means of a movable carriage, adjacent the transverse evacuation conveyor, the necessary time for transferring this row and for returning the movable carriage to its initial position represents lost time, not usable for performing transfer of the following row.
This phenomenon imposes sequence limitations, which become incompatible with present-day requirements of conditioning material such as, e.g., wrappers or other packaging material.
Furthermore, the conditioning of such articles or products by packaging units or other workstations requires in general the alignment and/or regular supply of the products. If the alignment can be performed by baffle elements, the uniform supply of products often requires complex installations such as endless chains having abutments, conveyor sections having multiple elements adapted to be moved independently relative to one another at different velocities, and presence or position detectors for the products and expensive electronic control.
Consequently, sophisticated and costly equipment is required which is sometimes difficult to master. Further, the cost of conditioning represents a significant portion of the cost of the product, which constitutes, of course, an inconvenience and even a limitation on the distribution of the products.